Letting Your Hair Down
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: A month ago, they'd been normal teenagers, their thoughts being focused on graduation and life after school. Now? Well, let's just say that a lot can change in a month...


**Letting Your Hair Down**

"You ever going to let your hair grow again?"

"I thought you liked it short."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Oh, I see – you're the leader of the team, so you get to decide how my hair should be?"

"No, I mean…what I'm saying is…I…"

Jason let out a sigh. He knew…or hoped…that Kimberly was fooling around. That this was banter, or 'connecting' or whatever fancy term Billy could come up with to describe the intricacies of the human condition. Was there a psychological term for "I was a normal teenager a month ago, and I'm starting to miss that feeling of normality?" Yeah, probably. Was there a term for "I'm now the leader of a group of superheroes, with access to alien technology with the fate of the world on my shoulders, and I have no idea how to handle that?" Probably not.

"Cheer up Jason, I'm just messing with you."

She gave him a shove as they continued to walk down Ocean Bluff Rd. There was a city called Ocean Bluff – he didn't know why that popped into his mind. Maybe it was his subconsciousness trying to give him a frame of reference in a world where frames of reference had become few and far between.

"Anyway," Kimberly continued. "I'm keeping my hair short. It gets everywhere in my helmet otherwise."

"Oh. Right."

"I mean…" She let out a laugh. "I mean, we've got access to superpowers, and rainbow-coloured suits, and zords…but there isn't alien technology that can do something about hair?"

"Ask Alpha," Jason murmured, as they entered the youth centre. "Maybe he can help."

"Ah, he's got a glitch," Kimberly said. "He keeps on going ai-yi-yi. Zordon said he'd look into it."

"Think he can fix it?"

"Well, if he can't, Billy can."

Jason didn't doubt it. Of the Power Rangers (a name that even now sounded foreign in his mind), Billy seemed to have adapted to the prospect of being a superhero the best somehow. Maybe it was the alien technology, maybe it was a break from normalcy, or rather, what had once been the "real world." Zach was silent as always, nearly unreadable, and Trini…He shook his head as he and Kimberly took a seat each. He didn't know about Trini. She didn't even seem to know herself. Maybe it was with the 'job' she and her friends had, or maybe being mentally probed by a space witch had that effect on people.

"So," Kimberly asked. "Smoothie? Shake?" She smirked. "No idea what our metabolism is like now. Do you think our bodies need more calories, or do the power coins make up for it?"

Jason was barely listening – his gaze drifted over to the youth centre floor, as the centre's karate class began to kick off. Ernie had mentioned that since the Power Rangers had saved the town (and the world) a month ago, there'd been a surge of interest in martial arts. Jason had smiled, and said "thanks, but no thanks," to signing up, that he'd rather just play football. He didn't want to tell Ernie that he was the red ranger, that he was the leader of the rangers, and that yes, that _was_ a robotic T-Rex that formed the basis of a giant samurai robot, thanks for noticing.

"Jason? Earth to Jason."

He barely heard her. 'Earth,' he reflected. Earth was under threat. Rita was on the moon. She might have enough magic for only one monster at a time, but she could strike anywhere, Zordon had told him. Told him, if not in the exact words, that he was the leader of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that his life as he knew it was over, that-

"Hey!"

Kimberly gave him a small slap over the head. Not too hard – he'd seen her punch putties with the rest of the gang, he knew what she (and any of them) could do if they put enough strength into their attacks.

"You listening?" she asked.

"I…yeah. Yeah, sure. Listening."

She smiled faintly. "You're a bad liar you know?"

"Don't say that," he murmured. He glanced back at the karate class. "I'm probably going to spend the rest of my life lying to everyone."

"Not the rest of your life. Only until Rita is defeated."

"And that's when?" he asked. "A week from now? A month? A year? Or hey, is it until I'm dead, and therefore, yes, I _will_ spend the rest of my life lying to people?"

Kimberly leant back in her chair. "What do you want me to say Jason? That it's going to be rosy?"

"Well, you're the pink ranger, you should know about stuff like roses."

"Roses are red, you twat."

"And violets are blue." He sighed, trying to picture Billy with flowers, but failing. "Sugar's sweet, right?"

"Are we sweet?"

He looked up at her, hoping, praying, that she wasn't going there. That they were just here as friends, here to enjoy a smoothie, or a milkshake, or heck, even a beer – he was old enough for such things, regardless what his dad said. That they _weren't_ going to discuss…stuff.

"Jason?"

"Kim, are we really going to discuss this now?"

She folded her arms. "Yes, we're going to discuss this now. Chances are we'll be seeing a lot of each other-"

 _Well, I'll be seeing a pink ranger at least._

"…for the immediate future, so yes, I'd like to know where we stand."

Jason sighed. Yes, they'd kissed. As a seventeen year old, that was comparatively tame. Of course, that kiss had come _before_ they'd learnt that Earth was under threat from a space witch, and that they'd have to risk life and limb to protect it. Zordon hadn't mentioned anything against fraternization, and as wise as the guy was, Jason doubted that floating heads had much to say on the subject of teenage love. Or attraction. Or whatever the heck this was.

"Jason?"

"Fine. Where we stand," he said. "I…we…" He sighed. "We're sweet, I guess?"

"You guess?"

"Fine," he snapped. "I like you. I like the way you look, I like the way you handle yourself, I like…you…I mean…I like…"

Kimberly laughed. It started slow, then got faster, and louder. Not loud enough to attract too much attention, but loud enough to give Jason pause. He'd heard laughter of a different kind not too long ago. Laughter from another 'woman.' Laughter that had sent a chill down his spine, and laughter he'd never wanted to hear again.

"Wow," she said. "You really are a bad liar."

He slammed his hands down on the table and got up. "I don't have time for this."

"No, I mean…I like the honesty." She grabbed him by the hand. "I mean…I like…well, I like saying that you like…"

"That I like…?" He sat down.

"That you like…well, you're like…" She sighed. "Look, right now I'm on a team of superheroes, saving Angel Grove and the world, all the while dealing with people that I wouldn't want to save under normal circumstances, and that I'd leave for dead if I had the luxury of running from a monster, so, yeah, I like that you're like…that I like…" She sighed. "What the heck are we even talking about?"

He shrugged. "Got a thesaurus?"

"It's in my locker. But…" She put her hand over his – far softer this time. Far more tender. "Well…I can let my hair down. I think we both could."

He smiled, not saying anything. Nothing had to be said. Nothing, but "so, what we gonna order?"

"Strawberry milkshake."

"Heh, fine. Vanilla."

"Vanilla?" Kimberly laughed. "What, you think you're a white ranger or something?"

He laughed, and it felt good. Laughed, and for a moment, forgot all of it. About Rita. About Zordon, about the Power Rangers, about the zords, the power coins, all of it. Laughed, and enjoyed himself. Only for a moment.

But that was enough for now.


End file.
